Poverty: Children

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children lived in  (a) absolute and  (b) relative poverty in each year between 1979 and 1997.

Kitty Ussher: The available information on the number of children living in relative and absolute low income since 1979 is given in tables 4.3tr and 4.4tr of the Households Below Average Income publication, published in June 2008, which is available in the library.
	Information is not available for all years requested.

Social Fund

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the monetary value of all social fund loans awaiting recovery.

Kitty Ussher: Recoveries from Social Fund loans are recycled in the form of new loans. This means that, at the end of a financial year, the amount outstanding on all Social Fund loans is the total that the Government have invested in the Social Fund since its inception (apart from write-offs).
	At 31 March 2008, the amount outstanding on all Social Fund loans in Great Britain was £906 million.
	 Notes:
	1. Social Fund loans consist of Budgeting Loans and Crisis Loans.
	2. The figure includes amounts outstanding on loans which have been partially repaid.
	 Source:
	Social Fund Account 2007-08.

Community Development

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's 2005 publication, Citizen Engagement and Public Services, what progress has been made on plans to introduce neighbourhood improvement districts.

John Healey: We have no plans to legislate for neighbourhood improvement districts at this time.

Community Relations

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many local authorities have set up the multi-agency tension monitoring groups referred to in the document, Guidance for local authorities on community cohesion, contingency planning and tension monitoring, published in May 2008; what the estimated running cost will be of such monitoring groups is; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many local authorities have submitted to their Government Office monthly tension monitoring reports referred to in paragraph 66 of the publication, Guidance for local authorities on community cohesion, contingency planning and tension monitoring, published in May 2008; and what use the Government makes of these monthly reports;
	(3)  what safeguards exist to prevent people from misusing the tension monitoring groups referred to in the report, Guidance for local authorities on community cohesion, contingency planning and tension monitoring, published in May 2008, in relation to local grievances;
	(4)  what procedures will exist to enable individuals to appeal against inaccurate data about themselves gathered under the tension monitoring arrangements referred to in the report, Guidance for local authorities on community cohesion, contingency planning and tension monitoring, published in May 2008.

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Beckenham of 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 983W, on local authorities: surveillance, which local authorities are now undertaking tension monitoring according to records held by her Department.

Sadiq Khan: Communities and Local Government does not hold a record of the number of local authorities who have set up multi-agency monitoring groups. Tension monitoring and contingency planning is about local partnership working and it is for local authorities to determine the systems they have in place and budget allocation needed to ensure they are able to effectively monitor tensions in their local areas.
	The number of local authorities that submit monthly tension monitoring reports can vary each month. Communities and Local Government is therefore unable to keep a consistent record of the number of local authorities who submit monthly tension monitoring returns. We use the monthly reports to identify challenges to cohesion and to identify possible trends; this information is used to inform our strategy for supporting local authorities.
	All contributors to the tension monitoring process are required to adhere to the principles of data collection set out in the Data Protection Act 1998. Each organisation that makes a contribution to tension monitoring should have local information sharing protocols in place.
	The personal details of individual details are not required for tension monitoring reports. If an individual was mentioned it would be in the context of any civil arrangements brought by the local authority or as a result of any criminal procedures through the police/courts.

Eco-Towns: Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 3 November 2008,  Official Report, column 122W, on eco-towns, how much funding has been  (a) provided to date and  (b) committed for the future to the Town and Country Planning Association in relation to work on eco-towns; and for what purposes.

Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1266W. This set out details about the funding and work undertaken by the Town and Country Planning Association in relation to the eco-towns programme.

Fires

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many electrical fires have occurred in newly rewired or newly built properties in England in each of the last five years.

Sadiq Khan: Fire and rescue services in England do not collect information on property construction dates or a history of electrical maintenance in buildings when attending fires. Information on the number of building fires started by electrics is available in the following table. The latest statistics available are for 2007.
	
		
			  Fires started by electrical appliances/wiring in buildings, by source of ignition, England, 2003-07( 1) 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Country and source of ignition  
			 England 15,226 79,502 75,983 72,451 67,709 
			   
			 Cooking appliances 1,386 1,441 1,485 1,502 1,419 
			 Electric space heater 140 136 126 155 190 
			 Plugs 56 55 76 96 81 
			 Sockets and switches 308 316 362 371 387 
			 Leads to appliances 495 523 434 429 380 
			 Wire and cable 3,276 3,761 3,729 3,914 3,713 
			 Washing machine 1,075 1,028 992 910 815 
			 Dishwasher 443 427 370 351 381 
			 Refrigerator 628 687 633 559 565 
			 Tumble and spin driers 853 1,021 999 886 1,005 
			 Lighting 2,417 2,788 2,784 2,780 2,655 
			 Blanket or bedwarmer 252 181 165 133 111 
			 Television 425 524 455 419 438 
			 Iron 60 39 77 85 100 
			 AV, VDU or computer 246 271 243 247 232 
			 Other electrical 3,166 2,848 2,832 2,943 2,773 
			 (1) Provisional